This review originally appeared on Goodreads on July 7, 2017.

The Tick People

By Carlton Mellick III – Eraserhead Press – February 9, 2016

Review by Robin Marx

What if technology could allow you to find your perfect soulmate? What if your genitalia fit perfectly together like a literal lock and key? What if your soulmate was a six foot tall mutant insect? And what if you all lived on the back of a colossal depressed dog? This novella answers these questions.

The Tick People belongs to a subgenre of weird fiction called “bizarro.” From what I've seen, bizarro is to weird tales what splatterpunk is to conventional horror fiction: it takes elements present in the parent genre and ramps them up to incredibly graphic heights.

This novella definitely isn't for everyone, it revels in grotesque, ooze-slathered descriptions of sex between the protagonist and his arthropod paramour, but it seemed to me there was more going on than just a juvenile attempt to shock the audience for shock's sake. The end result felt like it was influenced by both Kafka and Terry Gilliam's Brazil, with bits of Douglas Adams and punk mixed in.

Recommended for people who like the weirder side of horror.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Horror #Bizarro #WeirdFiction #TheTickPeople #CarltonMellickIII